Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

Introduction

near future will be managed via systematized operant conditioning—a startling proposition with ramifications which reach far beyond the scope of simple education reform. Inevitably, questions and controversy will arise after publication of this book. How many popular computer games, programs, and curricula for children are heavily dependent upon this method—a method which requires immediate rewards? To what extent have home school and Christian school leaders, authors, and curriculum companies endorsed and utilized this method? How many child rearing (training) programs, workbooks and seminars are based upon these Skinnerian methods? After reading this book parents will no longer be duped into accepting behaviorist methods—in whatever guise, or by whatever name they come. Publication of the deliberate dumbing down of america is certain to add fuel to the fire in this nation’s phonics wars. Ever since publication of her first work ( Back to Basics Reform or OBE Skinnerian International Curriculum , 1985), Iserbyt has been trumpeting the fact that the Skinnerian method applied in the Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI) is the very same method applied in Siegfried Engelmann’s DISTAR (Direct Instruction System for Teaching and Remediation, now known as Reading Mastery). In her latest work, Iserbyt provides exhaustive documentation that Direct Instruction (a.k.a. systematic, intensive phonics)—which is being institutionalized nationally under the guise of “traditional” phonics thanks to the passage of The Reading Excellence Act of 1998 —relies on the Skinnerian method to teach reading. Charlotte Iserbyt is the consummate whistle-blower. The writer describes her own personal experiences as a school board director and as senior policy advisor in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research and Improvement—from which emanated most of the dumbing down programs described in this book. There are no sacred cows in Iserbyt’s reporting of the chronological history of education reform. With little fanfare, the agendas and methods of key reform leaders (conservative and liberal) are allowed to unmask themselves in their own words and by their own actions. Of particular interest is Iserbyt’s material on the issue of school “choice”—abundant evidence from both sides of the political spectrum. The reader will learn that private, Christian and home schools are all neatly tied into the reform web via computer technology, databanking, assessment testing and, ultimately, the intention to use rewards and penalties to enforce compliance to the “transformed” system of education in this country. The careful researcher will appreciate the fact that the book is heavily documented but user-friendly. Citations are designed for the average reader, not just the academician. The chronological format of the book allows one to read forward or backward in time, or one entry at a time, according to personal preference. The accompanying appendices provide a source of in-depth topical material, which frees up the chronological text from becoming bogged down in details. The index and glossary are such valuable research tools that they are worth the price of the book. Iserbyt does very little hand-holding throughout the book. Commentary is sparse; readers can make their own connections and insert their own personal experiences. Iserbyt has strategically laid down key pieces to a giant jigsaw puzzle. The overall picture is purposefully arranged to portray one point of view. However, readers will be hard-pressed to come up with an alternative view. Just when it seems that one piece of the puzzle is an isolated, insignificant event, suddenly one comes across a stunning new entry that puts the pieces tightly together to form a vivid picture of the overall plan. Try as one might, the reader cannot escape the consistent, deliberate, 100-year plan to dumb down the populace.

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